So, December is finally upon us. Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, Yule and another dozen or so holidays are nearing ever closer. I’ve found that finishing Mirror has come at the perfect time. I can focus on my editing and stopping it to get my Christmas shopping started (Yes I said started. I’m a notorious procrastinator on all things unrelated to writing.) is easier than if I’d been writing. There is no way I’d been able to think about Christmas shopping if I’d been in the middle of a book.
Though I am missing the frustrations of writing. The scenes that don’t come out just right, the hours of planning, the cramped fingers, the headaches and eyestrain. But, story lines are never far from my head. I’m debating on whether or not to pull up a book I put on the back burner months ago, but the characters are slowly forming in my head again and I’m thinking now might be the time to play with it for fun.
This one is probably way to unoriginal to get published, but it might be fun to write it for the hell of it. And who knows, whenever my dream agent picks me up, he might like it enough to sell it.
Right now, though, I’ll just write it for me.
So, now that I’ve rambled on about that, I want to spend just a few minutes on inspiration, even though I’m still lacking my own at the moment.
The question I get asked the most is where do you get your ideas? My answer? I have no freakin’ clue. LOL. It just hits me. Sometimes, it’s the proverbial lightning bolt, but most often it’s just a vague idea. Like “oh, wouldn’t it be cool if…” and then I start playing with it in my head.
When I’m writing, a lot of my ideas come from outside sources. For instance in the middle of Mirror, my husband was playing a video game, that had to deal with (to my surprise) something similar to what Mirror deals with, only the darker side of it. And I knew what I was missing.
With Fallen, the ending to my third book came while I was watching GI Joe. If you’ve read my third book you know there’s nothing similar about GI Joe and Risen, but that’s where it came from. Like I said, I don’t know why.
Anyway, books, movies, music (especially music) are all very good motivators and inspiration pieces.
Music has always determined how I write. With Fallen I needed edgy rock (Linkin Park, Nickelback, Pink) and with Mirror I need softer stuff (Owl City, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Plumb) so I ended up downloading--off iTunes--probably close to 100 songs, just so I had my “writing playlist.”
A fellow writer suggested that I post my playlists so people can relate to me. That would be impossible as everyday the music changes, but I’ve listed the bands on my about me page that I listen to most, complete with links to their websites so others can share my love of music.
I know this was more of one long ramble than anything informative and I hope you’ll forgive me. My mind is one big slush pile at the moment. LOL. Until next week…TTFN.
